News Release

CONTACT:
Marylou Berg, Communication Manager, 240-314-8105
    

Rockville Alters Recommendations For Possible Changes to Refuse, Recycling
Options for Mayor and Council Include: Twice or Once Per Week Refuse Pickups; Public Hearing on Feb. 20

ROCKVILLE, Md., January 16, 2007—Rockville City Manager Scott Ullery will present the Mayor and Council with a revised set of options for proposed changes to the City’s refuse and recycling collection services. Among the revisions is a recommendation of options that would retain refuse collections at twice per week. The city manager initially recommended once per week collection for all residents.

The options to be offered for collection frequency will be to either continue twice per week refuse pickups for all residents, or offer a choice of once or twice per week. Regardless of the collection frequency, residents could also choose from among four container sizes, depending on need. 

The Mayor and Council also will be asked to consider various ways to structure the fees for this service.  Residents are currently charged a flat fee of $31 per month.  Alternatives to a flat fee would peg the price to service frequency (if that choice is offered), as well as to the size and number of containers a resident chooses.

The new recommendations will be formally presented to the Mayor and Council at their Monday, Jan. 29, meeting at City Hall. The meeting will be broadcast live on The Rockville Channel (TRC 11 – cable channel 11) starting at 7 p.m.  A public hearing on possible changes to the collection system will be held at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 20, starting at 7 p.m.

Both the original and revised recommendations are based on replacing the City’s current manual collection system with a “semi-automated” system.  Under the current system, City workers collect refuse that has been set out either at the curb or in residents’ yards, and the workers lift the containers to dump the contents into trucks.  The proposed new system would employ mechanical lift arms mounted on trucks to hoist specially designed wheeled containers. The containers would be provided by the City.

The changes being considered are expected to reduce worker injuries, improve neighborhood cleanliness and encourage recycling.

The original and the new recommendations both would allow residents to place most materials approved for recycling – including mixed paper, cardboard, bottles, aluminum cans and plastic – into one container without separating them.  Four container sizes would be offered.  This new system of  “single stream” recycling, if adopted, would replace a system that currently requires residents to separate paper and cardboard from glass, aluminum and plastic.  

Other decisions the Mayor and Council will need to make if the new collection system is adopted include how to deal with items that cannot fit in the containers, such as bulky items and occasional  “overflow” refuse, and whether to continue to pickup household hazardous waste by appointment.  

Full details of the revised recommendations will be available in the February edition of the City newsletter, Rockville Reports, which will go to residents and businesses the last week in January. Details also will be available on the City Web site at www.rockvillemd.gov.

The major components of the new recommendations that will be presented to the Mayor and Council include:

• Replace the current manual collection system with the semi-automated system (and fully automated system, where technically feasible) utilizing wheeled carts (in four sizes, to be selected by residents according to their needs).
   
• Eliminate “back door / side yard” pickup (residents would wheel their containers to the curb or alley). Work with each townhouse community to find the best solutions if carts are difficult to utilize, and implement an alternative system (e.g. a manual bag system) as necessary on a case-by-case basis.
   
• Retain twice per week refuse pickup, and provide direction whether to require twice per week for all residents or offer residents a choice of once or twice per week.
   
• Require all refuse to be placed in the container(s), and consider options for regulating the volume and frequency of “overflow” refuse, including pricing as a possible method (options for overflow are undergoing further study).
   
• Replace the current “multiple stream” recycling with “single stream” recycling, utilizing wheeled carts in four sizes (residents would select an appropriate size for their household).
   
• Modify the current service of picking up unlimited amounts of non-contained “bulk” items, and consider options for placing limitations on the collection frequency and volume.
   
• Retain pickup of oversized metal items (“white goods”), and combine with bulk pickup.
   
• Provide direction whether to retain the service of collecting oil/tires/batteries and household hazardous waste by appointment, or rely on seven days per week drop off service available at the Montgomery County transfer station at Shady Grove.
   
• Retain seasonal leaf collection service and transition to a new automated vacuum collection method. 
   
• Retain weekly yard waste collection service and explore automation options.
   
• Establish a fee policy, and provide direction whether to adopt a flat rate per household, or adopt rates tied to the refuse cart sizes, collection frequency and “overflow.”
   
• Consider options and provide direction on holiday collection schedules.

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